Portable dispenser



Aug. 2, 1966 E. WALTZ PORTABLE DISPENSER Filed Feb. 26, 1965 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent 3,263,883 PORTABLE DISPENSER Edward Waltz, Grand Rapids, Mich., assignor to The E. 0. Bulman Manufacturing Company, Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Filed Feb. 26, 1965, Ser. No. 435,208 4 Claims. (Cl. 225'-36) v This invention relates in general to a portable device for dispensing strip material from a roll thereof and, more particularly, to a dispenser in which plural rolls of decorative ribbon can be supported and by which pieces of said ribbon can be severed from the rolls thereof.

The gift wrapping of packages has become an important operation in most retail stores, and particularly in department stores. In recent years, the need for gift wrapping facilities in department stores has been expanded considerably beyond the seasonal services provided, for example, duri-ng the Christmas holidays. That is, it is no longer uncommon for a purchaser of goods to request gift wrapping of such goods for birthday gifts, for wedding gifts, for shower gifts and other gifts, even though the goods may not be purchased in a gift department. Moreover, it is not uncommon for some department stores to feature free gift wrapping, also at any time during the year, in order to promote the sale of merchandise in a particular department.

-Heretofore, it has been common practice to establish one or more, permanent gift wrapping counters in the store, to which the packages must be delivered either by the clerks or by the customer in order to have them gift wrapped. However, some merchants have found that customers prefer to patronize those stores wherein the gift wrapping can be accomplished either at or close to the department where the purchases are made, in order to avoid the delay or other inconvenience which is often experienced where the wrapping counter is located in some remote part of the store.

Gift wrapping materials, such as ribbons, are relatively expensive and, according to present procedures, each counter must be staffed. Thus, many store owners have been reluctant to increase the number of gift wrapping counters. That is, according to previous methods of handling gift wrapping operations, each station requires both storage and counter facilities for stocking materials and performing the wrapping operation. Moreover, each gift wrap counter must be constantly attended by at least one employee at all times regardless of whether there is any need for the services of such employee.

One of the most difficult problems in setting up a gift wrapping operation generally involves the handling of the ribbons. That is, the store can usually settle on one or two types of paper for the gift wrapping operation. Often, the paper is especially printed for the store with a particular pattern which tends to identify the merchandise with the store. Thus, the variation in the appearances of gift wrapped packages is provided by the variations in the ribbon. However, even where various papers are available, the package size in many departments tends to be about the same so that the paper can often be precut. On the other hand, even small variations in the sizes of packages usually necessitate material differences in the sizes of ribbon so that much ribbon can be wasted unless it is cut as used. As a general rule, the ribbon is far more costly than the paper used in the average gift wrapping.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention has been the provision of a portable dispenser of strip material, such as the spools of ribbon used for wrapping gifts, whereby the ribbons can be easily moved from one place to another for the purpose of setting up a temporary gift wrapping facility.

A further object of this invention has been the provision of a ribbon dispenser, as aforesaid, in which spools of ribbon can be easily placed and conveniently held for dispensing the desired amount of ribbon from any given roll, such ribbon being easily accessible by the person operating the dispenser and easily severable from the reniainder of the roll.

A further object of this invention has been the provision of a dispenser which is easy to operate by any person capable of properly wrapping a gift, which is light in weight so that it can be easily and quickly moved from one place to another, and which is specifically designed to display the ribbons in an attractive, easily visible and accessible manner to facilitate the choice of ribbons.

A further object of this invention has been the provision of a ribbon dispenser, as aforesaid, which is inexpensive to manufacture, which is sturdy in structure, which is pleasing in appearance and which is adapted for storing and/or holding other materials used in a gift wrapping operation.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will become apparent to persons familiar with dispensers of strip material upon reading the following descriptive material and examining the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a dispenser embodying the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view substantially as taken along the line IIII in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of the cutting head on said dispenser.

FIGURE 4 is an exploded, sectional view taken along the line IV-lV in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary, broken side elevation-a1 view of said dispenser.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VIVI in FIGURE 5.

For the purpose of convenience in description, the terms upper, lower, front, rear and terms of similar import, as used herein, will have reference to the dispenser of the invention as appearing in FIGURE 2, the front of the dispenser being on the left side of such figure. The terms inner, outer and derivatives thereof will have reference to the geometric center of said dispenser and parts thereof.

General construction The objects and purposes of the invention, including those set forth above, have been met by providing a dispenser having an upwardly opening trough in which spools of strip material, such as ribbon can be held, in side-byside, axially parallel positions. The strip material is fed away from said spools between the upper surface of a guide member and the lower surface of an elongated drag strip which is removably engageable with said guide member. The guide member is located frontwardly of the spool supporting trough. A cutting head is slideably supported upon a rod which is parallel with and located above the guide member. The cutting head has a downwardly facing cutting edge disposed frontwardly of said guide member.

Detailed description The dispenser 10 (FIGURE 1), which has been selected to illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, is comprised of a frame structure 11 including a bottom wall 12 and a pair of upright end walls 13 and 14 rigidly secured to, and extending upwardly from the opposite ends of, said bottom wall 12. The bottom wall 12 preferably has an integral, upwardly extending flange 15 along its front edge which extends between front edges of the end walls 13 and 14. Also, four resiliently flexible pads 21 are preferably secured to the lower surfaces of the frame structure 11 adjacent the four corners thereof for the purpose of preventing marring of a relatively soft surface or counter upon which the dispenser is placed during operation thereof. Also, the pads 21 may be made from a material which has nonskid characteristics whereby sliding movement of the dispenser during its use is resisted.

The bottom wall 12 includes a rear portion 16 (FIG- URE 2), which slopes upwardly and rearwardly from the .front portion 17 thereof to provide the rear side wall of the trough of channel 18, which extends between the end walls 13 and 14. The upper edge portion 19 of the rear side wall 16 may be bent downwardly to strengthen the side wall and to provide a flange which is slideably engaged by the hooks 22 and 23 on a pair of slide brackets 24 and 25, respectively. The bracket 24, for example, which is preferably identical with the bracket 25, is approximately L-shaped with a frontwardly extending leg 27 and a substantially vertical leg 28 integral with and extending downwardly from the front end of the leg 27 toward the lower end of the side wall 16. The slide bracket 25 is similarly constructed.

The front side wall 31 of the trough 18 is provided by an elongated, substantially flat sheet having a lower edge portion 32 which forms an included angle of about 135 with the rest of the sheet and which is rigidly secured, as by welding, to the bottom wall 12 near the lower end of the rear side wall 16. Thus, the front side wall 31 slopes upwardly and frontwardly preferably at about the same angle of slope as the rear side wall 16. The upper edge portion 33 of the side wall 31 is bent downwardly to form a rolled edge 34 over which the strips 36 of material on the spools or rolls 37 are fed when the spools are disposed within the trough 18, as shown in FIGURE 2. The side walls 16 and 31 of the trough 18 may have their upper ends held with respect to the end walls 13 and 14 by means of L-shaped brackets 38 and 39, respectively (FIG- URE 2) which may be spot welded in place.

An elongated member 42 extends between and is secured to the end walls 13 and 14 near the frontward ends thereof. Said guide member is preferably in the form of a downwardly opening channel having a front flange 43, a web 44 and a rear flange 46. The web 44 has its upper surface 47 preferably parallel with and adjacent a plane defined by the upper edges of the side walls 16 and 31 of the trough 18. Said guide member 42 is spaced frontwardly from the front side wall 31 and has a pair of downwardly extending, integral end flanges, such as the end flange 48 shown in FIGURE 2, whereby said guide member 42 is connected to the end walls 13 and 14 by means of rivets, welding or the like.

A drag device 51 is mounted upon and between the end walls 13 and 14, preferably above and between the guide member 42 and the upper edge 34 of the side wall 31. Said drag device is comprised of an elongated angle member 52 having a top horizontal flange 53 and a downwardly extending, front flange 54. The angle member 52 has a pair of integral end flanges, such as the end flange 56 shown in FIGURE 2, whereby said angle member is rigidly secured to the end walls 13 and 14 by any convenient means such as rivets or welding. A clamping angle 57 has a top horizontal flange 58, which is supported upon the top flange 53, and a downwardly extending front flange 59, which is preferably substantially parallel with and on the front side of the front flange 54 of the angle member 52.

An elongated, flexible drag element 62, which may be a relatively flat strip of plastic material, has one lengthwise edge thereof clamped between the front flanges 54 and 59. The other lengthwise edge of the drag element rests upon the upper surface 47 of the guide member 42. The drag element 62, which preferably extends substantially the full length of the guide member 42, may be resiliently flexible so that its lower front edge 63 is positively urged against said upper surface 47, due to the fact that the drag element is flexed in its normal position of operation, as shown in FIGURE 2. The flanges 54 and 59 are held together 4 by a plurality of screws 64, which extend through the flanges and the drag element-62.

A substantially L-shaped cutting head 66 has a handle flange 67, a blade supporting flange 68 and a transverse opening 69 at the junction of the two flanges. An elongated slide rod 72 is mounted upon the between the end walls 13 and 14 preferably parallel with and directly above the web 44 of the guide member 42. Said slide rod 72 extends through the opening 69 in the cutting head 66 so that said cutting head 66 can be pivoted around and moved lengthwise of said slide rod 72. Said cutting head 66 is constructed and said slide rod 72 is positioned so that the lower surface 71 of the blade flange 68 normally rests upon the web 44 under the urging of gravity when said cutting head is in its normal position upon the slide rod 72. In this position, the blade flange 68 extends substantially horizontally and frontwardly away from the rod 72 and substantially beyond the front edge of the guide me1nber 42. At the same time, the handle flange 67, which has serrations 73 in its front and rear sides to improve the grip thereof, extends upwardly from said slide rod 72.

The blade flange 68 (FIGURE 4) has a front end surface 74 which is approximately perpendicular to the lengthwise extent of said blade flange. A threaded recess 76 is provided in said surface 74. A substantially flat blade holder 77 has a flange 78 along its upper edge engageable with the upper side of the blade flange 68 adjacent the front surface 74. Said blade holder also has a central opening 79 through which a screw 82 can be slidably received for threaded reception into the recess 76 whereby the blade holder 77 can be clamped against the front surface 74. A cutting blade 83, such as a razor blade, having a cutting edge 84 and a central opening 86 through which the screw 82 is received, is clamped between the blade holder 77 and said front surface 74. When the blade is so held, said cutting edge 84 extends slightly below the lower edge 87 of the blade holder 77 and the lower surface 71 of the flange 68 adjacent said cutting edge 84. The blade holder 77 has a pair of downwardly extending abutments 91 and 92 (FIGURE 1) near the opposite ends of the lower edge 87 thereof which extend slightly below the lower cutting edge 84 of the blade 83. These abutments prevent the strip 36 from slipping ofl? either end of the cutting edge 84 during the cutting operation.

The end walls 13 and 14 have a pair of openings 93 and 94 near their upper edges which provide hand grips 96 and 97 whereby the dispenser 10 can be manually lifted and then easily carried from one place of use to another by any person capable of operating the dispenser.

A short axle 98 is secured to the end wall 14 and extends outwardly therefrom about midway between the upper and lower edges thereof in a direction substantially parallel with the slide rod 72. A drum 99 is rotatably supported upon the axle 98 between the end wall 14 and a spring clip 100 fastened to the axle 98 near its outer end. A roll 101 of adhesive coated tape can be slideably received upon the peripheral wall 102 of the drum 99 for rotation therewith.

A tape cutting member 103 is mounted upon the outer surface of the end wall 13 near its front end in radial alignment with and spaced radially from the roll 101 of tape. Said cutting member 103 has on the front side thereof an upwardly projecting cutting edge 104 which is preferably serrated and engageable by a strip of the tape 105 peeled from the roll 101. The cutting member 103 has a flat upper surface 107 adjacent to, and immediately rearwardly of, the cutting edge 104, which surface is approximately on a level with the upper side of the drum 99. During a severing operation of the strip 105 by the cutting edge 104, the adhesive side of the strip 105 will adhere to the surface 107 and thereby hold the end portion of the tape after the severing operation. The cutting member 103 has an integral flange 108 at its inner end which is secured to the outer surface of the end wall 14 by means such as the screw 109.

Operation The dispenser is used by placing one or a plurality of spools 37 of strip material, such as ribbon, within the trough 18. Particularly, if the spools 37 :are relatively narrow in an axial direction, the slide brackets 24 and 25 are moved along the trough 18 until they loosely engage the two spools 37 at the opposite ends of the group thereof.

The rolls 37 are preferably disposed within the trough 18 so that the ribbon thereon can be fed upwardly along the front side wall 31, across the upper edge 34 thereof and then between the guide member 42 and the drag device 51. The free ends of the ribbons 36 will extend beyond the member 42, as shown in FIGURE 1, for manual engagement of said ribbons. When it becomes desirable to sever a piece of a particular ribbon from the roll thereof, the free end of such ribbon is manually engaged and pulled frontwardly until the length of the piece desired extends forwardly of the blade holder 77 on the cutting head 66. The cutting head is then moved along the slide rod 72 until it is directly above the particular ribbon involved. By manually engaging the handle flange 67 and rotating same in a counterclockwise direction, as shown in FIGURE 2, the ribbon 36 is clamped between the web 44 of the guide member 42 and the lower surface 71 of the blade supporting flange 68. While this clamping action is maintained, the portion of the ribbon 36 forwardly of the cutting head 66 is manually engaged and pulled upward-1y against the cutting edge 84 whereby it is severed from the remainder of the roll. The ribbon 36, being held between the guide member 42 and the drag element 62, will remain in a position substantially as shown in FIGURE 1 following the severing operation performed thereon.

If it is desired to provide several ribbons of the same length, this can be accomplished by pulling one ribbon the proper distance frontwardly from the dispenser and then using the one ribbon as a reference for the other ribbons. Then, by positioning the cutting head 66 along the slide rod 72, each of these ribbons can be severed from their rolls.

A roll 101 of adhesive coated tape 105 may be mounted upon the drum 99 for use in the wrapping operation. With the free end portion of the strip 105 adhering to the upper surface 107 of the cutting member 103, the portion of the strip 105 between the cutting member 103 and the outer surface of the roll 101 can be easily engaged and raised so that it is disengaged from the cutting member 103. The strip is then pulled away from the roll 101 until the desired amount has been moved frontwardly beyond the cutting edge 104. Thereafter, the tape is moved downwardly against the upper surface 107 whereby the desired portion thereof is removed and the new end of the tape adheres to the upper surface 107 of the cutting member 103. This adherence prevents movement of the tape during the severing operation and thereafter until another piece of tape is needed.

The zone within the dispenser above the bottom wall 12, below the guide member 42 and frontwardly of the front side wall 31 can be used as a storage space for other materials or utensils. The upwardly extending flange 15 serves to prevent accidental dislodgement of such materials and utensils from within the zone.

Although particular preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed above for illustrative purposes, it will be understood that variations or modifications of such disclosure, which come within the scope of the appended claims, are fully contemplated.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A device for dispensing a piece of strip material 5 from a roll thereof, comprising:

a frame structure having an upwardly opening trough for supporting said roll;

:an elongated guide member mounted upon said frame structure and extending substantially parallel with the lengthwise axis of said trough, said guide member being near one side of said trough for supporting a portion of said material;

flexible means supported upon said frame structure and engageable with said guide member for holding said portion of material thereagainst;

rod means mounted upon said frame structure substantially parallel with and spaced upwardly from said guide member; and

a cutting head supported upon said rod means for movement lengthwise thereof, said cutting head having a cutting edge thereon located on the opposite side thereof from said trough and engageable by said strip material for severing a piece thereof from said roll, said cutting head being movable around said rod means into and out of engagement with said guide member to hold said material thereagainst when said piece is being severed.

2. An apparatus for supporting a roll of strip material and for removing a piece of said material from the roll 30 thereof, comprising:

a frame structure having a bottom wall and a pair of spaced end members;

an upwardly opening trough secured to said frame structure and extending between said end members, said trough having a pair of substantially flat, upwardly diverging side walls between which said roll is received;

an elongated guide member mounted upon and extending between said end members, said guide member being spaced from and substantially parallel with the upper edge of the adjacent side wall of said trough, said guide member and said upper edge being at flibstantially the same distance from said bottom wa elonged support means mounted upon and between said end members above and between said guide member and said upper edge;

an elongated flexible strip having one lengthwise edge portion resting upon and yieldably urged against the upper surface of said guide member, the other lengthwise edge of said flexible strip being engaged and 'held by said support means;

elongated rod means mounted upon and extending between said end members above and substantially parallel with said guide member; and

g a cutting head slideably supported upon said r-od means for movement lengthwise thereof, said cutting head having a cutting edge on the opposite side of said guide member from said trough for engagement by and severing of said strip material, said cutting head being movable around said rod means for engagement with said guide member whereby said strip is firmly held while it is severed from said roll thereof.

3. The structure of claim 2, wherein said trough is elongated so that it can hold plural spools of strip material rolled thereon; and

wherein said cutting head is substantially L-shaped and has a blade engaging end surface with a threaded opening therein, said head including a blade having said cutting edge, a clamp plate and screw means extending through said plate and said blade for reception into said threaded opening, whereby said blade is rigidly secured to said head.

4. A structure according to claim 2 comprising also stantially parallel with said rod means;

drum means rotatably supported upon said axle means;

and cutting means spaced radially from said drum means and having a cutting edge substantially parallel with said axle, said cutting means being secured to said one end member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS WILLIAM W. DYER, JR., Primary Examiner.

10 I. M. MEISTER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DEVICE FOR DISPENSING A PIECE OF STRIP MATERIAL FROM A ROLL THEREOF, COMPRISING: A FRAME STRUCTURE HAVING AN UPWARDLY OPENING TROUGH FOR SUPPORTING SAID ROLL; AN ELONGATED GUIDE MEMBER MOUNTED UPON SAID FRAME STRUCTURE AND EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL WITH THE LENGTHWISE AXIS OF SAID TROUGH, SAID GUIDE MEMBER BEING NEAR ONE SIDE OF SAID TROUGH FOR SUPPORTING A PORTION OF SAID MATERIAL; FLEXIBLE MEANS SUPPORTED UPON SAID FRAME STRUCTURE AND ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID GUIDE MEMBER FOR HOLDING SAID PORTION OF MATERIAL THEREAGAINST; ROD MEANS MOUNTED UPON SAID FRAME STRUCTURE SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL WITH SAID SPACED UPWARDLY FROM SAID GUIDE MEMBER; AND 